Monday, November 17, 2014

If you've been keeping tabs on Microsoft's Windows 10 Technical Preview then you should really focus in here for a second. Microsoft has been consistently tweaking its Windows 10 Preview with new builds loaded with new features. These builds have been coming out pretty regularly with the first one debuting on October 1. The next iteration, which was known as Build 9860, came out around three weeks ago and Microsoft has just released the newest build, Build 9879. But why are these new builds so important?

With Windows 8 failing to attract customers like Windows 7 did so, naturally, Microsoft is under a lot of pressure to make sure that Windows 10 releases to as much fanfare as possible. In that respect, Microsoft has opened up a Windows Insider Preview Program, the purpose of which is to encourage people to download and install Windows 10 and share their opinions with Microsoft in order for the company to see if it is making the right choices. By keeping up with the latest builds you ensure that your feedback is relevant and up to date.

In order to be up to date you have to be running the latest build, but how do you make sure that you're doing so? If you're not already running the Windows 10 Technical Preview then you can download it on your PC, though that isn't recommended unless you plan on doing so on a separate, spare computer. You can download it as an ISO file and then copy that file to a DVD or USB drive in order to install it on another PC, in a separate partition or as a virtual machine on your current computer.

Ok so if you've done all that or already have Windows 10 running it's time to get the latest build. And here's how to do it:

If you're using Windows 10, click the Start button and then click the option for PC settings.

On the PC settings screen, click the Update and Recovery setting.

On the Update and Recovery screen, click the option for Preview Builds.

On the Preview Builds screen, click the button to Check Now.

Once you do all this, Windows will tell you if a new build is available and display a Download Now button. If there are no new builds then another message appears alerting you that there are no new Preview Modes found. If a new build is found then:

Click the Download Now button. Windows will begin downloading and then installing the new build.

Once the build is installed Windows will prompt you to restart your PC.

Restart your PC, log back in and the new build will be ready and waiting.

You can then confirm that you are running the newest build by looking at the lower right portion of your desktop. There you will see the label Windows Technical Preview Evaluation Copy followed by the number of the build. At the moment, the latest build number is 9879. The next time you run this process you should see a higher build process number.

Now you are able to mess around with new build to see what you like, what works and what doesn't. Microsoft's OneDrive, for example, is not working in the current build. As Microsoft unleashes new builds, new features and new bugs will be noticed. In order to send feedback, click the Start Button and then click the Windows Feedback tile. At the Windows Feedback page you can select a specific category and feature to see feedback from other users or add your own.

Microsoft already has certain plans for Windows 10 and how it will tweak and shape things for the final build, though the company is definitely relying on the feedback it is receiving from users of the Technical Preview builds. If you were less than thrilled with Windows 8 then this is your chance to make Windows 10 the operating system you've always wanted.